Paris talks can't reach Iran deal

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France's foreign ministry has said six-nations talks on a UN resolution to punish Iran for its nuclear programme have failed to reach an agreement.

The ministry said that although "substantive progress" was made, some "outstanding issues remained".

The meeting brought together diplomats from the five permanent Security Council members, as well as Germany.

The council recommended sanctions after Iran failed to comply with a deadline for refusing to end uranium enrichment.

Ahead of the meeting, a senior US diplomat had said he was not expecting a breakthrough.

Moving talks

The diplomats said they would move their negotiations back to the United Nations headquarters in New York in a bid to reach a deal.

While the US is pushing for sanction against Iran, Russia and China have been holding out for further dialogue with Teheran.

France, Germany and the UK told Russia they want a resolution on sanctions to be passed by the end of the year, an unnamed EU diplomat was quoted as telling Reuters news agency.

The UK, France and Germany have drafted a resolution proposing restrictions on trade with Iran that would help its nuclear or missile work.

Financial and travel restrictions on individuals in the nuclear and missile fields are also thought to be on the list.

Russia and, to a lesser extent, China have tried to water down the text, saying the sanctions should not target individuals and should be limited in duration.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to reconsider relations with those countries who support sanctions.